What was the meaning of the movie: Adaptation?!
Question: For those of you who have seen the movie, why did Kaufman end the movie in a conventional and cliche way?
Especially since he made such an effort to speak against the way Hollywood makes movies.
What meaning could this ending have helped convey?
Answers: For those of you who have seen the movie, why did Kaufman end the movie in a conventional and cliche way?
Especially since he made such an effort to speak against the way Hollywood makes movies.
What meaning could this ending have helped convey?
I agree, basically is a mock.... everything he writes happens (or viceversa) so after he gets stuck he asks Donald for his help. and everything starts to get conventional (meaning conventional like in stupid shallow movies) the shootings, and the crocodiles.... the message (the joke message) is that, even if you try to do an honest emotional movie, this is what turns out, everybody was right about one thing "you cant make a movie just about flowers"
The movie is a play on that exact same question.
It is about the struggles of writing in Hollywood today, where all films are expected to end that way. It is a satire of the unoriginality, predicatbility, and obviousness of current Hollywood films.
The movie is actually two different "films" in one.
One is the "film" Charlie wanted to write: a beautiful film about flowers without Hollywood-izing it with car crashes, drugs, sex, etc. Where the characters dont evolve and learn life lessons, more like real life, as he says.
The other "film" contains exactly the things he didnt want.
The second "film" explains the signifcance of real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's imaginary twin brother, Donald. Donald is the half of himself that can do the things the real Charlie can do (talk to girls, flirt, forget criticsims, write a typical Hollywood movie.)
The first half of the movie is Charlie trying to write his originally intended script. If you notice it has beautuful shots of flowers, Charlie struggling in real life, not accpeting his brother, orginal vision, etc.
The second half of the movie begins when Charlie goes to the screenwriting lecture and then asks Donald to come to New York and help him on the script (After Donald's ridiculous film "The 3" is accepted). From this point on (a little over an hour into the film) when Donald is in Charlie's hotel room reading the script and giving him ideas. From this point on the movie changes into a "typical Hollywood film" with drug use, sex, secrets, plot twists, death, chase scenes, car crashes, and characters over coming obstacles and learning life lessons, plus it even crosses genres and adds a song . . . "Imagine me and you, I do. I think about you day and night, it's only right. So happy together."
That is why the film is credited with both Charlie Kaufman (real person and actaul screenwriter) and his brother,Donald Kaufman (fictional character created by Charlie for the movie) because that is how the film is written: half original, un-Hollywood "art" picture (Charlie's half) and the cliched, run-of-the-mill film with typical Hollywood conventions (Donald's half)
I love this film. It is definetley one of my absolute favorites! Truly original and wonderfully written, directed, and acted. It really helps to watch this film several times in order to grasp the whole intended meaning. Like all of Charlie Kaufman's films it begs to be watched more than once in order to "get it."
The entire movie is about Kaufman struggling about writing a true, honest, un-cliched movie about flowers. He does want to go against the Hollywood stereotype and conventions. The ending is a supposed to be a mock. The screenplay says it was written by Charlie AND his fictional brother, Donald. So, the ending is making fun of all the hollywood style action. So, basically everything he hates in films gets put into his movie by Donald. Even a "happy" ending